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December 13, 2012

Army gets attack helicopters as India eyes China threat

The ability of the Indian Armed forces, especially of the Indian Army,
to take on China and Pakistan in the icy Himalayan heights will get a
new boost soon.

By March 2013, the Indian Army's plan to have an
inbuilt air component for each of its 13 Corps (a Corps has
approximately 60,000 soldiers) will begin to take shape.

According
to a plan drawn up by the Army Aviation Corps, each Corps will have
three squadrons (30 helicopters) of various types. The three squadrons
will have three distinct roles--reconnaissance and surveillance, attack
and utility.
While the existing fleet of Cheetahs and Chetaks will continue to have
the reconnaissance and surveillance roles, the indigenously built light
combat helicopter (LCH), christened Rudra, will combine other two tasks.

Currently,
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is tasked with manufacturing 60 LCH
Rudras. The first 20 helicopters are expected to be inducted into the
Army Aviation Corps starting March 2013 after the choppers are put
through the mandatory Initial Operational Clearance (IOC) at the
Bangalore-based Centre for Military Airworthiness and Certification
(CEMILAC).

HAL which has developed the armed helicopters will be responsible for carrying out the certification process.

The
Rudra will come armed with a M6-21, 20 MM turret gun, 70 mm rockets,
besides anti-tank guided missile as well as air to air missiles.

The
first two squadrons of the Rudra will be armed with imported missiles.
The subsequent batches of helicopters will be armed with indigenously
made missiles.

The Rudra is powered by a new Shakti engine which
has been jointly developed by the HAL and French engine manufacturer
Turbomeca. The new engine will allow the Rudra to fly at altitudes above
20,000 ft.

The Himalayas along the India-China border and in
areas along the Pakistan border at places rise to as much as 20,000 feet
and beyond. The newly developed Shakti engines will enable the choppers
to fly to these heights with a full weapon pay-load.

The
importance of the new machines joining the Indian Armed Forces cannot be
over emphasised. The current attack helicopters - Russian made MI-25
and MI-35 helicopters cannot fly beyond 12000 feet.

The Rudra is
the armed version of the Advanced light helicopter (ALH) that is
already in service. The helicopter has integrated sensors, weapons and
Electronic Warfare (WEW) suite. The sensors include Infra- Red Imaging,
day and night cameras and a laser ranging and designation device.

The helicopter also has advanced missile, radar and laser tracking warning system.

Besides this, to reduce the load on the pilots it has countermeasures like chaff and fare which are dispensed automatically.

Sources
told NDTV that the first 60 helicopters will be inducted into the three
Strike Corps of the Indian Army, based respectively in Bhopal, Ambala
and Mathura and then in formations deployed along the India-China border
both in the North-east and Ladakh.

The final plan of the Indian
Army is to have a separate brigade of Aviation Corps with each of the 13
Corps of the Indian Army. Each of these Aviation Brigades are expected
to have a squadron dedicated to carry out surveillance and
reconnaissance, a separate squadron of armed helicopters and third
squadron of Light Utility Helicopters for ferrying people and other
duties.